Adam King

The huge potential scale of house building in Aston Clinton has been laid bare to worried villagers.

Aston Clinton currently has around 1,400 homes but a further 350 have already been given planning permission, while proposals for nearly 150 more have been submitted to Aylesbury Vale District Council.

A meeting was held by Preserve Aston Clinton Village Environment Action Group, attended by around 130 residents.

Chairman Phil Yerby said: “Aston Clinton has the right to feel under the cosh here.

“The village could double in size. That’s only OK if its what villagers want and there’s adequate infrastructure accompanying it.”

He said a better alternative to ‘shoehorning’ homes around Aylesbury was to build a new town in the north of the Vale close to Milton

Keynes.

Developers have also submitted other potential sites in Aston Clinton for the council’s consideration as the authority draws up its Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP), which will set out how many homes the district should have and where they should go.

Included is a 170ha site at College Farm, College Road North, which is being promoted by Buckinghamshire Advantage – a body ultimately responsible to Bucks County Council and on which Andrew Grant, chief executive of Aylesbury Vale District Council, is a board member.

Mr Yerby, a former UKIP councillor who lost his seat in the election, claimed this was a conflict of interest and as a result the site’s inclusion in the VALP was a ‘done deal’.

“They should withdraw these plans and leave it to people who are independent.”

However, Tracey Aldworth, director at AVDC strongly denied the accusation. She said the call for sites consultation is ‘in no way an indication of where the council thinks future development should go’.

“Ultimately it is for elected members of the full council to have the final say on the Local Plan for Aylesbury Vale, which will manage growth and development in the district for the next 20 years.

“Any major planning applications submitted in advance of the local plan being adopted will be determined in accordance with national and local policies and such applications are determined by elected members of the council.”